Councilmember Craig Reynolds Shares Meeting Recap 2/3/26
OPINIONCITY GOVERNMENT
In this column, Council Member Craig Reynolds shares his perspective on recent issues before the Mercer Island City Council as well as insight in to how he votes and shapes city planning and policies.
February 3, 2026 Council Meeting Update
Another Mercer Island City Council meeting is a wrap.
On February 3, 2026 the City Council had its regularly scheduled meeting at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center. Councilmember Becker attended remotely. Councilmember Weiker was absent. All other councilmembers attended in person. Key agenda items included:
AB 6853: Sound Transit Link 2 Line Update
AB 6852: 2024 Financial, Accountability and Federal Audit Exit Conference
AB 6859: ARCH Housing Trust Fund Project Approval
AB 6857: Forged Fiber 37, LLC Telecommunications Franchise Agreement (Ord. No. 26-01, First Reading)
AB 6839: Capital Improvement Program Overview
This was not a controversial meeting. Every vote was 6-0 in the affirmative.
AB 6853 - Sound Transit Link 2 Line Update
Four members of the Sound transit leadership team, including CEO Dow Constantine, updated the Council on the status of the “2 Line”, which will connect Seattle to Bellevue via Mercer Island by light rail. They reaffirmed their commitment to opening on March 28. Enthusiasm from the presenters and the Council was palpable. Constantine noted that Sound Transit is “on the doorstep of genuine triumph”. A few key takeaways, primarily from the Q&A:
They are focused on a commitment to “reliability, security, and cleanliness” as they transition from being construction-focused to being operationally-focused.
They are cognizant of the risks of opening on No Kings III day. Their main strategy to manage this is to do their celebrations early in the day before the protests really gets going.
They are committed to doing cross training with MIPD and Eastside Fire to ensure safe operations.
Each station will have a security person on site, as well as security people riding the trains.
If you encounter a security problem on the train, call or text (206) 398-5268. They will try to have someone be there to help by the next stop.
The train will run from 5 AM - 1 AM, seven days a week. Two-car trains will run every 8-10 minutes, and they have designed the system to do as many as four cars when the volume justifies it.
Trains from Redmond across I-90 will cross to Judkins Park and International District Station before heading North to downtown, UW, and points beyond. Riders will be able to transfer at International to head south to the airport and beyond.
The new station will have 106 bike parking spaces.
They are working with the city and the Mercer Island Chamber to plan for a station opening ceremony. I think the MIHS marching band should be part of this, don't you?
AB 6852 - 2024 Financial, Accountability and Federal Audit Exit Conference
The state auditors reported to Council on the results of our audit. We had one “finding”, related to the recent check fraud incident, which the auditors stated was due to inadequate controls in the payable process. City staff discussed extensive changes that they made to procedures that should increase the security of our processes.
AB 6859 - ARCH Housing Trust Fund Project Approval
No big surprises here. We voted to allow ARCH to use our housing trust fund dollars to go towards seven projects around the eastside. I asked a few questions about how ARCH could support us if we decided we wanted ARCH-funded affordable housing on Mercer Island, as this may be the most cost-effective and practical way to comply with the recent GMHB ruling. ARCH has a variety of resources to advise us on sighting and design and can help us to locate potential development partners. I also asked for a comparative summary of housing trust fund contributions by member city, as shown below. It is not a table to be proud of.
AB 6857: Forged Fiber 37, LLC Telecommunications Franchise Agreement (Ord. No. 26-01, First Reading)
We approved the transfer of a fiber optics franchise agreement to an AT&T subsidiary. I had a a lot of questions about this as I hoped it might be an opportunity to motivate more fiber installations or raise revenue for the city, but it appears, per RCW, that there is little opportunity for that. On the plus side, these agreements are not exclusive. So if any other firms come along that want to install their own cable, we can welcome them in as well.
AB 6839: Capital Improvement Program Overview
The real purpose of this agenda bill was to figure out a process for examining our capital budget to see if any projects can be deferred in order to free up resources to help pay for the much-needed public safety and maintenance building. Ultimately, we decided to form a subcommittee (Mayor Rosenbaum, Councilmember Weiker, and myself) to work with staff to identify candidate projects for deferral. I asked staff to review each of the 100+ planned capital projects and identify those that are:
(1) Legally required
(2) Required to protect life or safety
(3) Likely to lead to materially greater cost if deferred
(4) Already underway
(5) Dependent upon grant money that could be lost if we deferred.
I suspect that we will have a much smaller list to consider once we screen out such projects. I look forward to working with my Council colleagues to identify ways to defer costs.
Perhaps the highlight of this meeting was when the city finance director, Matt Mornick, used a word I had never heard before: Nabla. I thought I was the biggest math geek in the room—but for last night I think he took the prize.
Councilmember Reports
I had a few key report-out items:
(1) I will miss the joint meeting with the school board on Thursday because it conflicts with the parks and rec commission meeting,
(2) I had to resign from the King County Law Enforcement and Fire Fighters Disability and Retirement Board because I recently learned that, since Mercer Island has its own disability board, we are not eligible to send a representative to this Board. I was often the lone vote on the side of fiscal responsibility on this Board, so decisions rarely went my way, but I think in a few cases I managed to move the Overton window. I will help get my replacement up to speed once one is found.
(3) I reminded the community that our pro-democracy protests continue at 3 PM every Sunday at Democracy Corner (40th and Island Crest Way). EXCEPT, Super Bowl Sunday will be 2:30. All are welcome.
(4) I commended Mr. Mornick for teaching me the word "Nabla".
Other notable comments:
(1) Councilmember Weinberg reminded the community about how to distinguish between a judicial and an administrative warrant. He also spoke about pending legislation in Olympia.
(2) Councilmember Anderl spoke about meeting with a local cub scout troop.
Councilmembers Weinberg and Hsieh spoke of upcoming community coffees / brunches that they are hosting.